Hearthwood River Pack Thread

He made his way swiftly through the woods on quiet, confident paws. A fat, dusty brown rabbit hung from his jowls, the fur around its neck stained with blood. He was getting pretty good at hunting rabbits on his own, though they still managed to escaped him now and again, persistent practice had taught him to be almost silent in the open, dry underbrush of Kingsfall, and to position himself so that he blocked the oblivious victim's route to the safety of the burrow. This one had almost managed to get away though, like many others of its kind, it was resourceful, and had dug several entrances to its tunnel system, and though the aspiring hunter had identified the most well used, and blocked it off, the rabbit had been quick to dart for one of the others. But he was getting quick in his reactions, and a hasty leap had brought him down upon the creature, breaking its bones under his weight. A quick snap of the neck had done the rest, and he had happily taken up his price.

Now he was headed for one of the central caches, one he made doubly sure to always keep well stocked, as it was the nearest one to the den where Kisla still spend most of her time, with the girls. The sound of an unfamiliar voice caught his attention though, and he veered of his path, heading for the shrubby clearing in front of the den. He cleared the last bushes to see a light, coppery yearling sitting in front of the den, seeming to speak with the empty air. Orren paused, tilting his head as he studied the boy. Then after a while, he stepped closer, bowing to place his catch before his large, creamy paws before speaking; "Naia's probably out scouting, I haven't seen her all day." In fact, he had looked for her before heading out to hunt on his own, he much enjoyed teaming up with the lithe woman who had been his teacher ever since he was born; "Don't think much of anyone's about now, on such a lovely day." The black-saddled yearling glanced up at the sky, between the towering treetops, high above. Then he looked back at the other, smiling warmly; "Except us! I'm Orren, nice to meet you."

Word count: 387

Thoughts ”Speech”

He hadn't meant to scare the smaller boy, so when he jumped from his seat to take a submissive stand, Orren felt bad. He tried not to appear to dominant, wagging his tail eagerly and lowering his own ears to the sides; Oops uhm, what else can I do? He tried to remember the few displays of dominance and submission he had seen in his one year. The second Baranski prince was so used to being the youngest that he had never really paid much attention to his body language, but now that he was a yearling, it might be time for it. The dusty lad was smiling though, despite his fright, and Orren happily beamed back, hoping to dissolve the awkwardness between them.

The lighter pelted yearling explained his inquiry for Naia, and the River prince felt a small stab of jealousy; Why would ma' sent HIM to talk to Naia?! But his curiosity and excitement to meet another wolf his own age quickly drowned out his petty sense of monopoly on his teacher. Instead, he sat down, hoping to soothe the other boy a bit by showing his own calm. The paler copper youth did seem keen on a friendly conversation; Just a bit... Skittish? To the extremely extrovert youth, the idea that someone else might not be so openly enthusiastic was quite unfamiliar, but he had met wolves with a different mindset; indeed he was related to one in particular. So he nodded encouragingly when the boy introduced himself, clarifying the name that had escaped Orren beforehand. It was an unusual calling to the Hearthwood lad's ears, but that only served to make him more curious, and he smiled and nodded again.

Then Absyrtus asked a question that seemed to come out of nowhere, and for a moment the larger yearling was confused, wrinkling his brows lightly. But he remembered that the other had said Kisla send him to seek out Naia, and though Orren wasn't the brightest of wolves, he made the connection. "We have two currently, Absy..?" He used the name a little hesitantly, looking to see if the other was satisfied with his pronunciation and use of the nickname; he liked the way it sounded. "Naia is the leading scout, and Bastet ranks right under her." He smiled warmly, feeling proud of his pack, and happy to be the one to introduce its workings to this new addition. Then tilting his head lightly and cocking a brow he added: "You looking to be a scout too?"

Word count: 422

Thoughts ”Speech”

Her journey from the mountain had been much longer than she had wanted with the way she was feeling. Inna had ran nearly all the way back to Hearthwood so afraid there was something terribly wrong with her. She wanted her mom because she knew Kisla could make it better, that was what her mother was best at. Inna also needed to speak with Lachesis, she had news for him. She couldn't wait to tell the healer because it was too important that he know about his son and what she and Aleksei had found on the mountain.

Once she'd found her mother she went in to talk to Lachesis starting with the infirmary den where she could usually find him. Though she did worry he might not be in there and instead on a patrol or hunt. She'd been gone awhile so his routine could have changed in the time she'd been gone, she hoped he might be resting inside. Inna called out to him before sitting back on her haunches. That of course didn't last long as the itch started back up so she thought while she waited for the healer she would run against a nearby tree to see if that might help.